The battle came to a head at the November 20, 2012 city council meeting when Corey Booker, the city’s mayor, attempted to steal the council seat that was left vacant by Donald Payne, Jr., who was elected to Congress to finish the term of his father, the late Donald Payne, Sr.With one seat vacant, there are currently eight active council members, four of whom are Latino (Anibal Ramos, Luis Quintana, Carlos Gonzalez and Augusto Amador) and four of whom are African (Ronald Rice,Jr, Darren Sharif, Mildred Crump and Ras Baraka). On a board that doesn’t always see eye-to-eye with the mayor, Booker managed to find four in favor of subverting the entire democratic process to insert his ally, Shanique Davis Speight, on the council. And in one of the most vile and flagrant abuses of the political process that Newark has ever witnessed, the acting president of the council, Anibal Ramos, opened up the meeting by calling for an election for which there was no notice given, which wasn’t on the agenda and for which he refused to allow any debate!
When he opened up the meeting with the surprise election, Ras Baraka immediately objected and asked to be recognized.Ramos refused to acknowledge him and instead called on Gonzalez, who nominated Speight. In a maneuver that many feel was deliberately orchestrated to sow racial division in Newark among the black and Latino populations, Ramos refused to allow any of the African council people to speak.Meanwhile, as all of them walked off the dais in protest, the remaining four took a page directly from the Jim Crow south and proceeded with the illegal vote as if their colleagues were invisible. Booker, who never shows up to council meetings, even when asked by the public and council, suddenly sprung forward to cast the fifth vote. Council regulations stipulate that in these kinds of proceedings there must be five “yes” votes in order for the motion/vote to carry. The rhetoric that Booker put forward was that when the council members walked off the dais, that created a lack of quorum and that in the absence of a quorum the mayor has a right to vote to fill a council seat. Other council members maintained that there was never an absence of a quorum, as their walking off the dais in protest to an illegal vote did not constitute walking away from the meeting.Upon receiving intelligence about the illegal maneuver, Ronald Rice boycotted the meeting to thwart a tie, as a tie would have also given the mayor the authority to vote.After witnessing this outrageous political heist and slap in the face to the African community of Newark, the people in attendance became enraged and chaos ensued. And again, Booker and his cronies attempted to steal the vote with more outrageousness—in spite of the fact that all eight council members were present and that there were four yes votes, two “no” votes and two abstentions. Booker tried to vote again by revising history and inverting logic on its head. This time he and his council cohorts claimed that the abstentions should be counted as “no” votes, thereby claiming that the mayor has the right to vote in the event of a tie. What makes this argument even more egregious is that under the presidency of councilwoman Mildred Crump, the city council in 2007 stipulated that abstentions were not “no” votes and that all of the council members, including the ones who were now siding with the mayor, signed onto this. Booker himself even signed onto it!
When he opened up the meeting with the surprise election, Ras Baraka immediately objected and asked to be recognized.Ramos refused to acknowledge him and instead called on Gonzalez, who nominated Speight. In a maneuver that many feel was deliberately orchestrated to sow racial division in Newark among the black and Latino populations, Ramos refused to allow any of the African council people to speak.Meanwhile, as all of them walked off the dais in protest, the remaining four took a page directly from the Jim Crow south and proceeded with the illegal vote as if their colleagues were invisible. Booker, who never shows up to council meetings, even when asked by the public and council, suddenly sprung forward to cast the fifth vote. Council regulations stipulate that in these kinds of proceedings there must be five “yes” votes in order for the motion/vote to carry. The rhetoric that Booker put forward was that when the council members walked off the dais, that created a lack of quorum and that in the absence of a quorum the mayor has a right to vote to fill a council seat. Other council members maintained that there was never an absence of a quorum, as their walking off the dais in protest to an illegal vote did not constitute walking away from the meeting.Upon receiving intelligence about the illegal maneuver, Ronald Rice boycotted the meeting to thwart a tie, as a tie would have also given the mayor the authority to vote.After witnessing this outrageous political heist and slap in the face to the African community of Newark, the people in attendance became enraged and chaos ensued. And again, Booker and his cronies attempted to steal the vote with more outrageousness—in spite of the fact that all eight council members were present and that there were four yes votes, two “no” votes and two abstentions. Booker tried to vote again by revising history and inverting logic on its head. This time he and his council cohorts claimed that the abstentions should be counted as “no” votes, thereby claiming that the mayor has the right to vote in the event of a tie. What makes this argument even more egregious is that under the presidency of councilwoman Mildred Crump, the city council in 2007 stipulated that abstentions were not “no” votes and that all of the council members, including the ones who were now siding with the mayor, signed onto this. Booker himself even signed onto it!
[ed notes;click link for whole expose..there was also police brutality...then also see...
Corey Booker and the Hard Right's Colonization of Black American Politics
http://thenakedfacts.blogspot.com/2012/05/rhodes-scholar-champion-of-neoliberal.html
Corey Booker and the Hard Right's Colonization of Black American Politics
http://thenakedfacts.blogspot.com/2012/05/rhodes-scholar-champion-of-neoliberal.html
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